Feel Like You Want To Give Up? Here’s What You Can Do Instead.

Making a career change or looking for a new job can be extremely frustrating. Many times you send out too many resumes to count or reach out to network with others and never hear back from anyone. You may get the interview, but not the job.

This may come as a surprise, but the truth is that wanting to give up is a normal reaction. In these situations, the only way you’ll be able to move forward is to acknowledge those feelings and work through them. You can't “pretend” your way through feeling better.

It’s almost impossible to go from feeling completely hopeless to upbeat and positive by pretending. Instead of continuing to pretend you’re feeling positive and saying everything is fine, my advice is to consciously reach for the next best feeling until you can get to a point where you genuinely feel better. When you ignore what it is you are really experiencing, you give away your power to change it.

A constant stream of rejection can oftentimes cause you to blame yourself and bring on feelings of depression. When you’re depressed you tend to lack motivation and suffer from inaction.

Because you think that no matter what you do, it doesn't make a difference.

But instead of blaming yourself, try feeling frustrated instead. When you are depressed you tend to play a repeat of negative thoughts in your mind and wallow in self-pity. So instead, try to focus on being frustrated. Being angry or frustrated about a situation is one step above blaming yourself. When you feel frustrated, you’re more likely to do something about it. Feeling this way about a situation can sometimes prompt you to take action.

Once you decide to channel those feelings into action, those feelings of frustration will slowly evolve into feelings of hope. Eventually, those hopeful feelings can bring on a more positive outlook. Those genuine feelings of positivity will allow you to start taking the necessary action steps to bring about a different situation for yourself.

So instead of just pretending your way through your feelings, genuinely acknowledge what it is you're experiencing and try to feel the next best emotion that’s available to you. It’s not always about being positive, it’s about being honest with where you are at and consciously deciding what you can change.

Just remember, you’re the only one who knows where your mind is and how to work through those feelings and pretending to feel something you don’t doesn’t help. Instead of ignoring what you’re experiencing, focus on being conscious of your thoughts and work through each negative one. Little by little, you’ll begin to see an improvement in your mindset and begin to be hopeful about what’s possible.